Majority of schoolgirl dropouts choose to gain apprenticeship skills rather than go back, a report says.
A project conducted by Action Aid dubbed Education for Life aims to improve the life of marginalised schoolgirls who are victims of early marriage or pregnancy.
During the project, the girls were given four pathways to choose; apprenticeship, vocational institutes, formal school and entrepreneurship.
“From the project, 49 per cent of the girls preferred apprenticeship, while formal school was the least preferred at seven per cent,” the report reads.
Most girls who snubbed the formal pathway were older, earlier married and young moms.
This is due to fear of stigmatisation especially for the young mothers and the victims of early marriage.
Some of the girls also preferred apprenticeship because it would allow them to continue taking care of their children and families.
“Girls opting for formal pathways are likely to drop out if not followed up closely and supported to integrate with the system,” the report reads.
However, the report says girls who opted for apprenticeship were not assured of a ‘brighter’ end goal.
“The time spent at the apprenticeship pathway was too short to acquire skills for self-sufficiency,” it said.
From the survey, most of the girls dropped out of school to get married while only a few had to attend to family duties.
“For the dropouts, 35 per cent got married, 26 per cent relocated, 14 per cent got employed while 12 per cent attended to family duties,” the report reads.
Household chores remained the main challenge affecting attendance of the girls to the ELF project.
The main chores include fetching water, housework and caring for younger siblings or older family members.
Nearly three out of 10 (29%) girls reported that household chores affect their attendance at the catch up centre, with Garissa (62.3%) and Isiolo (43.9%) being most affected.
EFL was conducted in five counties of Garissa, Isiolo, Kilifi, Kisumu and Migori and 5,626 girls enrolled.
The project was funded to a tune of Sh7.8million with its implementation starting in September 2018 to March 2023.
In Garissa, AAIK partners with Woman Kind Kenya and Sauti Ya Wanawake Pwani in Kilifi and Pastoralist Women for Health and Education in Isiolo.
In Migori Voluntary Service Overseas works with Kuria District Disability Network.
Leonard Cheshire partners with Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops and Kisumu Urban Apostolate Programmes Pandipieri.
(Edited by Bilha Makokha)
